PITTSBORO, Ind. -- If you travel about 15 miles west of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, you'll come across the quaint town of Pittsboro, population maybe 3,000.

Unless you're a Jeff Gordon fan, there's no reason to stop. But if you're a fan of catfish and Hoosier hospitality, stop, stay and have lunch.

“

About 5 p.m., you'd see all the cars on Main Street going that way. Then about 9:30 p.m., you'd see all of Pittsboro coming back."

”

-- LARRY HERRING

"They've got the best fried catfish that I've ever had," said Jeff Gordon, who as a teenager moved to the small, Midwestern town from California to further his racing career. "That place is fantastic. I remember going there long before I ever lived in Pittsboro when we used to visit the Stanley family who built our quarter midgets. I remember them taking us to Frank and Mary's because it was a great spot. Then moving to Pittsboro, it was certainly a place we went to pretty frequently."

Frequent flyers they were. Gordon and stepfather, John Bickford, would go for lunch often at Frank and Mary's. And don't mention this to the town marshal, but a young Gordon used to sit right at the bar. He was very much just one of the guys.

And the town's one and only racing hero.

Up until Gordon's NASCAR career took off in the early 1990s, every Saturday night you'd see a mass exodus of townfolk heading to the short track to watch Gordon race a midget or sprint car, usually at O'Reilly Raceway Park.

"About 5 p.m., you'd see all the cars on Main Street going that way," said Larry Herring, owner of Frank and Mary's, as he pointed east. "Then about 9:30 p.m., you'd see all of Pittsboro coming back. The town really supported him."

Then when he won his first Cup Series race from the pole in 1994 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Pittsboro fastened a cardboard cutout of Gordon on the town's fire truck and had a parade.

"We did that for about the first three races, but then he kept winning so we had to stop," Herring said.

But the fame and notoriety of NASCAR didn't keep Gordon from his hometown or favorite lunch spot, which years ago dedicated an entire room to the No. 24 driver and his image.

Herring said every few years or so Gordon sneaks back into town to visit old family friends like Ron Ping and Charlie Waters. Even Larry Sparks, Gordon's driver's education teacher who brags to the town that he is the one who taught the "Golden Boy" how to drive.

Gordon today still appreciates the admiration and support he received from Pittsboro.

"It's awesome that they've built the shrine or whatever it is," said Gordon, who on Sunday at the Brickyard 400 will attempt to add a fifth win to his haul from historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "I wish I could get a chance to go back there more often when we go for the race."

Inside what Herring calls his "Jeff Gordon room," a huge Pepsi sign pulled from the front of a pop machine hangs from one of the wood-paneled walls. Photos of Gordon winning the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 greet you as you enter the room. There's even a photo of Gordon's childhood home west of Pittsboro.

"I got tired of people asking me where it was so I took a photo and hung it up with the address," Herring said. "For Gordon fans, it's like going to Mecca. They still come to see the house."

It won't be quite business as usual this weekend as NASCAR fans will look to make their annual pilgrimage to Pittsboro and imagine Gordon as a teen tooling up and down Main Street in his Chevy pickup truck.

"He used to give people around here pretty wild rides in that thing up and down the back roads," Herring remembers. "If you got to ride in his Chevy then you've had a great ride."

But don't plan on going to Frank and Mary's on Sundays. Sunday is sacred.

"We don't do business on race day. And you can always tell there's a NASCAR race going on because in Pittsboro it's quiet. There's no mowing, no tractors running," he said. "But if Gordon gets knocked out of the race, you hear the mowers start up again. Everyone goes back to work."